1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a mount for a gun having a revolving battery of barrels, e.g., a Gatling type gun.
2. Prior Art
The most conventional arrangement for mounting Gatling type guns is shown in U.S. Air Force T.O. 11W112-4-34, FIG. 2, dated Apr. 15, 1965, showing the M61A1 gun. The gun has two recoil adapters coupling the forward end of the gun housing to the stationary support structure, and a sliding guide fitting integral with the back plate of the gun, to couple the aft end of the gun housing to the stationary support structure. This is also shown in "20 mm Weapons Application Data" FIG. 4, GE Co., MPB-438(1000)466. An alternative arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,898,811 issued to D. R. Helble on Aug. 11, 1959, probably showing a variant of the M61 gun. The gun has two recoil adapters coupling the forward end of the gun housing to the stationary support structure, and a rotating assembly coupling the forward end of the barrel cluster to the stationary structure. The muzzle clamp is free to slide longitudinally within a ball bearing ring assembly which is fixed to the stationary support structure. U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,496 issued to A. E. Clayson on Oct. 24, 1978 also shows a muzzle clamp sleeve which is free to slide longitudinally within a ball bearing ring assembly which is fixed to the stationary support structure. U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,978 issued to R. G. Kirkpatrick et al on Dec. 25, 1979 shows an aft barrel clamp having a plurality of rollers, each journaled on an axis parallel to the gun longitudinal axis and free to rotate about the gun longitudinal axis and to slide longitudinally against a raceway which is fixed to the stationary support structure.
In these barrel clamp arrangements, high vertical or horizontal forces, depending on the attitude of the gun mounting, are imparted to the barrel clamp mount from the gun firing forces. These forces cause frictional interferences, which adversely affect the ability of the gun to repeat in travel, i.e., the ability of the recoil adapter to respond repetitively, thus adversely affecting the dispersion of the fired rounds of ammunition and the gun operation.